The Kuan Yin gold series ran from 1985 through the late 1990s and occupied an unusual position in Chinese numismatic policy — produced explicitly for export and foreign exchange earnings rather than domestic circulation, it was sold through state-controlled channels to Western collectors and investors at a time when private gold ownership inside China remained heavily restricted.
The 1996 issue is the penultimate year of the series before it was discontinued, a decision that has never been formally explained by the People's Bank of China.
The Kuan Yin gold series ran from 1985 through the late 1990s and occupied an unusual position in Chinese numismatic policy — produced explicitly for export and foreign exchange earnings rather than domestic circulation, it was sold through state-controlled channels to Western collectors and investors at a time when private gold ownership inside China remained heavily restricted.
The 1996 issue is the penultimate year of the series before it was discontinued, a decision that has never been formally explained by the People's Bank of China.